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> We should be learning alternative models In addition to learning models from other subjects, we also need to understand that the complexity and often chaotic
by pdkl95 10y ago
> We should be learning alternative models
In addition to learning models from other subjects, we also need to understand that the complexity and often chaotic nature of human behavior might mean some subject can only be modeled superficially.
> economics
Varoufakis[1] and Blyth[2] argue that it might be impossible to create models of the economy. They both warn that there is a seductive quality to math, but that "elegance" is an oversimplification that can easily unravel when given the chaos of the real world.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5AUAIzciLE&t=1355 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5AUAIzciLE&t=1355
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmWbkPezgtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmWbkPezgtU
- gshubert17 10y agoIt is certainly impossible to create realistic models of the economy, if one's economics is based on assumptions of linearity and equilibrium. Mark Buchanan's book _Forecast_ [0] makes the case for more realistic models, using techniques from the natural sciences, that would have better predictive value. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Forecast-Physics-Meteorology-Sciences-Economics/dp/1608198537 https://www.amazon.com/Forecast-Physics-Meteorology-Sciences...
- xyience 10y agoIs he rich from his superior models?
- gshubert17 10y agoGood question. The book's blurb says he is a science writer; I don't know how rich he is. I guess it's easier to point out the flaws in linear, equilibrium models, and to point to better results in, say, meteorology, from using better models based on different assumptions, than it is to construct and validate completely new economic models.